It had been the topic of discussion for an entire week, maybe two, leading up to the Sox's interleague series with the Dodgers...how would Red Sox Nation greet Manny Ramirez in his return to Fenway Park? Either the faithful would be thankful for Manny's body of work while dawning the Sox uniform, or they would let their anger fester over the nature of his departure. Judging from the TV broadcast, their was a mix of emotions. Some cheered, some booed. Well, for those of you who chose the latter, you should be embarrassed.
Lets start with the nature of his exodus from the city. Manny was sold at the trade deadline in '08 largely because the Sox brass felt they could no longer function as an American League contender with his "lazy" attitude. Manny had sat-out an inordinate number of games that year (basically whenever a hard-throwing hurler was to face the Sox), and allegedly faked a knee "injury" at numerous points during May and June. But, folks, this is Boston, where the media has a tendency to let their imaginations run wild! The picture that the media was painting all pointed toward Manny "giving up." Yea, he basically took the month of July off, right? Basically. He only hit .347 with four homers and 16 RBI. For Manny, that is nothing special, but it certainly doesn't seem like he packed it in! Then you've got the feud in the dugout between him and Youk. The media had to stick to their plot, which naturally meant placing the blame on Manny for the dugout spatter. In the years since, some Sox players have come out and said that Youk, while a great player, may not be the best guy to have in the dugout.
The point here? The fans will eat up anything the media spits at them, and they should be ashamed for taking the "sport paparazzi's" word for anything. Manny, while childish at times and a "free spirit," has been widely considered one of the hardest workers in the sport. Spending endless hours in the clubhouse studying tape and perfecting his craft. John Henry said last week that Manny was the hardest worker he had ever seen. Did the media make any mention of this in June or July of '08? Nah!
How quickly people forget the good that somebody has brought them. The last few years have proven exactly how "bandwagon" our city is. In '04, Manny was a crucial ingredient in putting an end to the curse and delivering a World Series Championship to Boston. Three years later, he was again vital in producing a second celebration parade. In eight years in Boston, he amassed over 270 homers, over 850 RBI, and two titles. Yet, the fans in Boston would rather be spoon-fed a load of bullshit by self-important Boston media personnel. Sure, he's childish! Sure, he's immature! Fine, he's goofy! Ok, he doesn't hustle! Are you people kidding!? HE PLAYS A GAME FOR A LIVING! You hear it all the time, "there is a business side." But there is no getting around it, baseball is a game! When you play a game, and you play it at the highest of levels, you are allowed to take a piss in the Monster! You're allowed to be a fucking goofball! More importantly, you're allowed to have fun!
Manny was a goofball, but he was a hell of a fucking baseball player. I don't care what the media said, or what the fans choose to believe. The fact is, Manny helped deliver a desperate, thirsting city something that it hadn't had in 84 years! Some of Sox Nation, apparently, thinks that media portrayals and fabrications of laziness are more important than his play on the field.
So for all of you that booed when Manny made his return to the batter's box on Friday, you should be ashamed of yourself. For what he has given this city, there is no player that deserves a louder standing-ovation than Manny Ramirez.
Manny should have recieved a standing ovation. People forget the sour notes that Nomar and Pedro left on, yet they were applauded to no end.
ReplyDeleteThe sox quit on Manny. They waived him, refused to grant his extension (when he deserved it) and tried to trade him every off season. Any other MLB player would have flipped out at the sox ownership but manny never did.
so your telling me i cant boo a person who was suspended for 50 games? your telling me i cant boo a person who even mike lowell, the ultimate gentleman, said said would be interested to see what the fans do because "we didn't agree on a lot of things he did"? your telling me i cant boo a person who didnt know which knee was hurting him? your telling me i cant boo a person who pushed down a 65 year old man because he wouldnt be able to get manny 16 tickets within 24 hours? your telling me i cant boo a person who started a charity organization when he came to boston and promised to fulfil all of his promises then gave up on it a year later?
ReplyDeletepedro and nomar have NOTHING to do with manny. im tired of hearing about that. different situations. manny was a BAD person. too many times in sports we treat athletes like babies. sometimes morals have to come into the game. he disrespected the game on countless occasions. (even sunday night he didnt try to break up a double play... he went wayyyy out of the baseline so the throw could go through)
manny didnt give a shit about any of us, why should we give a shit about him? yes, he was on a TEAM that won 2 championships and i will always love those TEAMS. that doesnt mean i need to love and respect every PERSON on the team. baseball is 25 players (and so many more during the season). i will always cherish those memories. but i will never, ever cheer a cheater, a lier, a quitter, and a fraud.
if im buying 10 tickets a year to go to the "Americas Most Beloved... i mean Americas Most Expensive Ballpark" then i deserve to boo him. i shouldnt be ashamed. people should be ashamed who dont take a stand.
im surprised too... because we've all been on teams. we've all played sports. we've all gave our blood, sweat, and tears to our teams. if we see one of our teammates dogging it we get upset. we get mad. even if we win a championship with that person leading the way, if we see him giving up on us and being an asshole, we wouldnt respect him. thats why we shouldnt respect manny.
See...typical Sox fans, or sports fans for that matter, eating up whatever the media in their city wants to spoonfeed them. You know why Manny is allowed to "dog it?" Because he was a perennial 120 RBI machine when he was dogging it!
ReplyDeleteTom Brady hasn't been to OTA's in three or four years now. Does that mean he's dogging it? Maybe, yea. But you know what, nobody is ragging on Tom Brady because the media fucking LOVES him. They spoonfeed us with everything "good" about the guy (save for Ron Borges). But even if Brady is doggin it, who gives a rats ass! Because he shows up and he's a great quarterback on gamedays. He's brought us 3 Super Bowls!
Manny started a charity and "gave up on it," and Brady had a kid with Bridget Moynahan and gave up on them!
And I can't stand the shit about players "caring" about fans. No players "care" about the fucking fans! They care about winning and they care about money! That's a tough pill to swallow, seeing as how we all devote our lives to watching and following them, but it's the truth.
And you're right, I loved those teams, not just individuals. But I loved the team better when Manny Ramirez was batting cleanup and raking, not when Jason Bay was hitting .065 one month and .420 the next. Manny was a rock in that lineup and he was taken for granted. Yea, he wasn't a try-hard on the field, but nobody can question his dedication to baseball.
Without Manny, the Curse still exists.